By their origin and meaning, most Ukrainian surnames are closely related to Russian ones. There is nothing surprising in this, since both those and other surnames take their roots in history Slavic peoples. In the same time Ukrainian surnames markedly different from typical Russian surnames.
Surnames formed with suffixes.
Most typical suffix for the surnames of the inhabitants of the Dnieper Ukraine, this is the suffix -enk-. According to historical documents The first mentions of such surnames belong to XVI century. According to historians, the suffix and the ending -enko has Turkic origin. Over the following centuries, surnames ending in -enko became widespread (more than half of total number surnames) among the Cossacks from the Left Bank of the Dnieper, in the Kiev region and some other areas. It was not uncommon to switch from a surname without a suffix to a surname with a suffix. For example, Komar - Komarenko.
Other similar ways of changing surnames into the Ukrainian way are the addition of suffixes -eyk- (Bateyko), -ochk- (Marochko), -ko (Andreiko).
Some suffixes, with which Ukrainian surnames are formed, belong to the category of toponymic suffixes and are common not only among Ukrainians, but also among Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians and other Slavic peoples. So, the suffix -sk- or -tsk- was often found among representatives of the Ukrainian nobility, whose surnames were formed according to the name of the family estate. For example, Gorodets - Gorodetsky. Other varieties of toponymic suffixes are -ovsk- (-ivsky), -evsk-. Examples of surnames: Baranovsky, Grinevsky.
Characteristic for Ukrainian surnames are the patronymic suffixes -ich- (-ych-) and -uk- (-yuk-). The latter denote "someone's servant, disciple or son." For example, the meaning of the surname Tarasyuk may sound like "son of Taras." In addition, among immigrants from different regions of Ukraine, there may be various suffixes characteristic of these regions. For example, in the regions that were once part of Little Russia, Russian and related endings -ov, -ev and -iv are common. With the help of these suffixes, Ukrainian surnames were Russified and took on the form, for example, like this: Porechenko - Porechenkov.
You can also list surnames with suffixes that are found mainly among Ukrainians: Paliy (suffix -iy, in Transcarpathia is more common -ey), Shcherbak (suffix -ak), Pasichnyk (suffix -nick) and others.
Surnames derived from other words
The origin of many Ukrainian surnames can be easily traced if you pay attention to what words they are formed from. Often, young people were given surnames according to the occupation of their parents, the name of the father or his nickname. So, for example, the surname Kovalenko comes from the word "forger", the translation of which sounds like "blacksmith". Also, surnames formed from the names of professions include Grabar (digger), Kravets (tailor), Rybalko (fisherman), etc.
Surnames formed from first names are very popular among Ukrainians. Usually such surnames appeared when young Cossacks were recorded by the name of their father - Zakharchenko, Yushchenko, Vasyuchenko. It is not uncommon for surnames formed from nouns, from the names of animals, and also made up of several words. For example, Share (fate), Koshara (flock of sheep), Gogol (bird), Shchur (rat), Krasnoshapka (red hat), Ryabokon (speckled horse), etc.
Cossack Sich surnames
These Ukrainian surnames should be taken out in a separate paragraph for their unusualness. As a rule, they consist of two parts - a verb and a noun, and have a pronounced emotional coloring. Surnames such as Zaderikhvist or Lupybatko are designed to tune in a certain way, giving rise to many images in the mind.
These flowery surnames owe their appearance to the tradition, according to which those who arrived in the Sich had to leave the old name outside its borders and pick up a new one that would correspond to their character.
Female Ukrainian surnames
Feminine forms in Ukrainian do not exist for all surnames. As a rule, they are used for those surnames that are morphologically identified as adjectives ending in –sky (Khovansky - Khovanskaya), as well as for surnames that sound close to Russian ones (Shugaev - Shugaeva).
Other surnames common among Ukrainians do not have a separate female form. As an exception, Western Ukrainian surnames ending in -iv or -ishin can be cited. Sometimes you can find female variants of these surnames (for example, Pavliv - Pavliva). In addition, in a colloquial conversation, you can hear how from a surname ending in -yuk, they form female form ending in -yuchka (Serdyuk - Serduchka). However literary norm it is not.
Where did such surnames as Yushchenko, Khmelnitsky, Gavrilyuk and Shevchenko come from? What do Tyagnibok and Zhuiboroda have in common?
This unique "-enko"
Surnames ending in the suffix "-enko" are considered the most typical for Ukrainians, and not because they make up the largest group, but because they practically do not occur among other Slavic peoples. The fact that such surnames became widespread in Russia is explained by the fact that the Ukrainians, after joining the Muscovite state in 1654, constituted the second largest ethnic group after the Russians.
It should be noted that Ukrainian surnames came into use earlier than Russian ones. The very first mention of a surname with the suffix "-enko" dates back to the 16th century. Their localization was typical for Podolia, a little less often for the Kiev region, Zhytomyr region and Galicia. Later, they began to actively spread to Eastern Ukraine.
Researcher Stepan Bevzenko, who studied the register of the Kyiv regiment of the middle XVII century, notes that surnames ending in "-enko" accounted for approximately 60% of the entire list of family names of the regiment. The suffix "-enko" is a diminutive, emphasizing the connection with the father, which literally meant "small", "young man", "son". For example, Petrenko is the son of Peter or Yushchenko is the son of Yusk.
Later, the ancient suffix lost its direct meaning and began to be used as a family component. In particular, it became an addition not only for patronymics, but also for nicknames and professions - Zubchenko, Melnichenko.
Polish influence
For a long time most of today's Ukraine was part of the Commonwealth, which left its mark on the process of forming surnames. Surnames in the form of adjectives ending in "-sky" and "-tsky" were especially popular. They were mainly based on toponyms - the names of territories, settlements, water objects.
Initially, surnames with similar endings were worn exclusively by the Polish aristocracy, as a designation of the rights to own a particular territory - Potocki, Zamoyski. Later, such suffixes also spread to Ukrainian surnames, adding to the names and nicknames - Artemovsky, Khmelnitsky.
Historian Valentin Bendyug notes that with early XVIII centuries, "noble families" began to be assigned to those who had an education, first of all, this concerned priests. Thus, according to the researcher's calculations, over 70% of the clergy of the Volyn diocese bore surnames with the suffixes "-tsky" and "-sky".
phenomenon in Western Ukraine surnames with endings in "-uk", "-chuk", "-yuk", "-ak" also occurred during the period of the Commonwealth. Baptismal names became the basis for such surnames, but later any others. This helped to solve the problem of identification - selection specific person from society and the separation of the Ukrainian from the gentry. This is how Gavrilyuk, Ivanyuk, Zakharchuk, Kondratyuk appeared, although over time these suffixes became more widely used - Popelnyuk, Kostelnyuk.
Eastern trail
Linguists have established that there are at least 4,000 Turkic words in the Ukrainian language. This is due to the active resettlement of some Turkic and other Eastern peoples in the area of the Black Sea and the Dnieper region due to the increased Islamization of the Caucasus and Central Asian regions.
All this directly affected the formation of Ukrainian surnames. In particular, the Russian ethnologist L. G. Lopatinsky argued that common in Ukraine family ending"-ko" comes from the Adyghe "ko" ("kue"), meaning "descendant" or "son".
For example, the frequently encountered surname Shevchenko, according to the researcher, goes back to the word "sheudzhen", which the Circassians called Christian priests. The descendants of the “sheudzhen” who moved to the Ukrainian lands began to add the ending “-ko” - this is how they turned into Shevchenko.
It is curious that surnames ending in "-ko" are still found among some Caucasian peoples and Tatars, and many of them are very similar to Ukrainian ones: Gerko, Zanko, Kushko, Khatko.
Lopatinsky also attributes Ukrainian surnames ending in "-uk" and "-yuk" to Turkic roots. So, as evidence, he cites the names of the Tatar khans - Kuchuk, Tayuk, Payuk. The researcher of Ukrainian onomastics G. A. Borisenko supplements the list with Ukrainian surnames with a wide variety of endings, which, in his opinion, are of Adyghe origin - Babiy, Bogma, Zigura, Kekukh, Legeza, Prykhno, Shakhray.
for example, the surname Dzhigurda - an example of Ukrainian-Circassian anthroponymic correspondence - consists of two words: Dzhikur - the name of the Zikh governor of Georgia and David - the Georgian king. In other words, Dzhigurda is Dzhikur under David.
Cossack nicknames
The environment of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks contributed to the formation a large number a wide variety of nicknames, behind which serfs and representatives of other classes who had escaped from dependence hid their origin for security reasons.
“According to the rules of the Sich, the newcomers had to leave their names behind the outer walls and enter the Cossack world with the name that would best describe them,” writes researcher V. Sorokopud.
Many of the bright and colorful nicknames, consisting of two parts - a verb in imperative mood and a noun subsequently, without any suffixes, turned into surnames: Zaderykhvist, Zhuiboroda, Lupybatko, Nezdiiminoga.
Some of the surnames can be found even now - Tyagnibok, Sorokopud, Vernigora, Krivonos. Whole line modern surnames went from one-part Cossack nicknames - Mace, Gorobets, Birch.
ethnic diversity
The diversity of Ukrainian surnames is the result of the influence of those states and peoples, under whose influence Ukraine has been for centuries. It's interesting that for a long time Ukrainian surnames were the product of free word creation and could change several times. Only at the end XVIII century in connection with the decree of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, all surnames acquired a legal status, including in the territories of Ukraine that were part of Austria-Hungary.
Professor Pavel Chuchka points out that one should distinguish between a “Ukrainian surname” and a surname belonging to a Ukrainian. For example, the surname Schwartz, which is still found in Ukraine, has German roots, but its derivative Shvartsyuk (son of Schwartz) is already typically Ukrainian.
Due to foreign influence, Ukrainian surnames often acquire a very specific sound. So, for example, the surname Yovban, according to Chuchka, has always been prestigious, since it comes from the name of St. Job, which is pronounced Yovb in Hungarian. But the researcher sees the surname Penzenik in the Polish word "penzit", which translates as how to scare
With each year of his life, a person expands the choice of communication more and more, getting to know new people. In order for a new acquaintance to make contact with you, you need to make a pleasant impression on him. To avoid uncomfortable situations, it is important to know what nationality the person in front of you is in order to behave in accordance with the moral and ethical standards of his country. Most surnames can be unmistakably identified nationality your friends, neighbors, business partners, etc.
Russians- use surnames with suffixes -an, -yn, -in, -skikh, -ov, -ev, -skoi, -tskoi, -ih, -ih (Snegirev, Ivanov, Voronin, Sinitsyn, Donskoy, Moskovskikh, Sedykh);
Belarusians- typical Belarusian surnames end in -ich, -chik, -ka, -ko, -onak, -yonak, -uk, -ik, -ski. (Radkevich, Dubrova, Parshonok, Kukharchik, Kastsyushka); many surnames in Soviet years were Russified and Polished (Dubrovsky, Kosciuszko);
Poles- most of the surnames have the suffix -sk, -tsk, and the ending -ij (-th), indicating masculine and feminine gender (Sushitsky, Kovalskaya, Khodetsky, Volnitskaya); also exist double surnames- if a woman, when getting married, wants to leave her last name (Mazur-Komorovskaya); in addition to these surnames, surnames with an unchanged form are also common among the Poles (Nowak, Sienkiewicz, Wuytsik, Wozniak). Ukrainians with surname endings in -y are not Ukrainians, but Ukrainian Poles.;
Ukrainians- the first classification of surnames of a given nationality is formed with the help of suffixes -enko, -ko, -uk, -yuk (Kreschenko, Grishko, Vasilyuk, Kovalchuk); the second series denotes the kind of any craft or occupation (Potter, Koval); the third group of surnames are individual Ukrainian words(Gorobets, Ukrainian, Parubok), as well as a merger of words (Vernigora, Nepiyvoda, Bilous).
Latvians- a feature to the masculine gender is indicated by a surname ending in -s, -is, and to the feminine - in -a, -e (Verbitskis - Verbitska, Shurins - Shurin)
Lithuanians - male surnames end in -onis, -unas, -utis, -aitis, -enas (Pyatrenas, Norvydaitis), female surnames are formed from the husband's surname using the suffixes -en, -yuven, -uven and the endings -e (Grinius - Grinyuvene), surnames unmarried girls contain the basis of the father's surname with the addition of suffixes -ut, -polut, -ait and endings -e (Orbakas - Orbakaite);
Estonians- male and female sex with the help of surnames does not differ, all foreign surnames(mainly German) were Estonianized at one time (Rozenberg - Roozimäe), this process is still in effect today. for example, in order to be able to play for the Estonian national team, football players Sergei Khokhlov and Konstantin Kolbasenko had to change their names to Simson and Nahk;
French people- many surnames are prefixed with Le or De (Le Pen, Mol Pompadour); mostly dissimilar nicknames and personal names were used to form surnames (Robert, Jolie, Cauchon - a pig);
Romanians: -sku, -u(l), -an.
Serbs:-ich.
English- the following surnames are common: formed from the names of the place of residence (Scott, Wales); designating a profession (Hoggart - a shepherd, Smith - a blacksmith); pointing to appearance character and appearance (Armstrong - strong, Sweet - sweet, Bragg - bragging);
Germans- surnames formed from personal names (Werner, Peters); surnames that characterize a person (Krause - wavy, Klein - small); surnames indicating the type of activity (Müller - miller, Lehmann - geomor);
swedes- most surnames end in -sson, -berg, -steady, -strom (Andersson, Olsson, Forsberg, Bostrom);
Norse- are formed from personal names with the help of the suffix -en (Larsen, Hansen), surnames can occur without suffixes and endings (Per, Morten); Norwegian surnames can repeat the names of animals, trees and natural phenomena(Blizzard - blizzard, Svane - swan, Furu - pine);
Italians- surnames are characterized by suffixes -ini, -ino, -ello, -illo, -etti, -etto, -ito (Benedetto, Moretti, Esposito), can end in -o, -a, -i (Conti, Giordano, Costa) ; the prefixes di- and- denote, respectively, the person's belonging to his genus and geographical structure (Di Moretti is the son of Moretti, Da Vinci is from Vinci);
Spaniards and Portuguese - have surnames ending in -ez, -az, -iz, -oz (Gomez, Lopez), surnames that indicate the character of a person are also common (Alegre - joyful, Bravo - brave, Malo - horseless);
Turks- most often surnames have the ending -oglu, -ji, -zade (Mustafaoglu, Ekindzhi, Kuindzhi, Mammadzade), when forming surnames they often used Turkish names or everyday words (Ali, Abaza - a fool, Kolpakchi - a hat);
Bulgarians - almost all Bulgarian surnames formed from personal names and suffixes -ov, -ev (Konstantinov, Georgiev);
Gagauz: -oglo.
Tatars: -in, -ishin.
Greeks- the surnames of the Greeks cannot be confused with any other surnames, only they have the endings -idis, -kos, -pulos (Angelopoulos, Nikolaidis);
Czechs- the main difference from other surnames is the obligatory ending -ova in female surnames, even if where it would seem inappropriate (Valdrova, Ivanovova, Andersonova).
Georgians- Surnames ending in -shvili, -dze, -uri, -ava, -a, -ua, -ia, -ni, -li, -si are common (Baratashvili, Mikadze, Adamia, Karchava, Gvishiani, Tsereteli);
Armenians- a significant part of the surnames of the inhabitants of Armenia has the suffix -yan (Hakopyan, Galustyan); Also, -yants, -uni.
Moldovans: -sku, -u(l), -an.
Azerbaijanis- formed surnames, taking as a basis Azerbaijani names and attaching to them the Russian suffixes -ov, -ev (Mamedov, Aliyev, Gasanov, Abdullayev). Also, -zade, -li, ly, -oglu, -kyzy.
Jews- the main group consists of surnames with roots Levi and Cohen (Levin, Levitan Kagan, Koganovich, Katz); the second group originated from male and female Jewish names with the addition of various suffixes (Yakobson, Yakubovich, Davidson, Godelson, Tsivyan, Beilis, Abramovich, Rubinchik, Vigdorchik, Mandelstam); the third classification of surnames reflects the character of a person, the features of his appearance or belonging to a profession (Kaplan is a chaplain, Rabinovich is a rabbi, Melamed is a pestun, Schwarzbard is black-bearded, Stiller is quiet, Shtarkman is strong).
Ossetians: -ti.
Mordva: -yn, -in.
Chinese and Koreans- for the most part, these are surnames consisting of one, less often of two syllables (Tang, Liu, Duan, Qiao, Choi, Kogai);
Japanese- modern Japanese surnames are formed by the merger of two full-valued words (Wada - sweetness and rice field, Igarashi - 50 storms, Katayama - hill, Kitamura - north and village); The most common Japanese surnames are: Takahashi, Kobayashi, Kato, Suzuki, Yamamoto.
As you can see, in order to determine the nationality of a person, it is enough to accurately analyze his last name, highlighting the suffix and ending.
WHAT DO THE SURNAME ON "-IN" MEAN? SURNAMES ENDING IN -IN HAVE RUSSIAN ROOT OR JEWISH?
In the collection of the famous Slavic linguist B. O Unbegaun “Russian Surnames”, one can read that surnames with “in” are mainly the Russian type of surnames.
Why the ending "-in"? Basically, all surnames ending in "in" come from words with the ending -а / -я and from nouns female ending in a soft consonant.
There are not a few examples of the erroneous addition of -in to the bases with a final solid consonant: Orekhin, Karpin, Markin, where -ov should have been. And in another case -ov turned out to be in place -in: Shishimorov from the basis of shishimora. It is possible to mix formants. After all, among Russians -in and -ov have been semantically indistinguishable for more than a thousand years. The meaning of the difference was lost even in the common Slavic language, the choice of -ov or -in depends only survivingly on the phonetic feature of the stem (Nikonov "Geography of Surnames").
Do you know how the name of the famous leader came about militia 1611-1612 years of Minin? Minin had a personal nickname Sukhoruk, he did not have a last name. And Minin meant "son of Mina". Orthodox name"Mina" was widespread in Rus'.
Another old Russian surname- Semin, also a surname on "-in". According to the main version, the surname Semin goes back to the baptismal male name Semyon. The name Semyon is the Russian form of the ancient Jewish name Simeon, meaning "hearing", "heard by God." On behalf of Semyon in Rus', many derivative forms were formed, one of which - Syoma - formed the basis of this surname.
The well-known Slavic linguist B. O. Unbegaun in the collection “Russian Surnames” believes that the surname Semin was formed from the baptismal Russian name after following scheme: "Semyon - Syoma - Semin."
Let us give another example of a surname, which we studied in detail in the family diploma. Rogozhin is an old Russian surname. According to the main version, the surname keeps the memory of the profession of distant ancestors. One of the first representatives of the Rogozhins could be engaged in the manufacture of matting, or trade in fabric.
Rogozhey was called a coarse woven fabric from bast tapes. A bast hut (bast mat, bast mat) in Rus' was called a workshop where bast mats were woven, and a bast mat was called a bast weaver or a bast mat merchant.
In his close circle Rogozhnik's household was known as "Rogozhin's wife", "Rogozhin's son", "Rogozhin's grandchildren". Over time, the terms denoting the degree of kinship disappeared, and the hereditary surname - Rogozhins - was assigned to the descendants of Rogozhin.
Such Russian surnames ending in "-in" include: Pushkin (Pushka), Gagarin (Gagara), Borodin (Beard), Ilyin (Ilya), Ptitsyn (Bird); Fomin (from the personal name of Thomas); Belkin (from the nickname "squirrel"), Borozdin (Furrow), Korovin (Cow), Travin (Grass), Zamin and Zimin (winter) and many others
Please note that the words from which surnames are formed on "in" mostly end in "-a" or "-ya". We will not be able to say “Borodov” or “Ilyinov”, it would be more logical and sonorous to pronounce “Ilyin” or “Borodin”.
Why do some people think that last names ending in "-in" have Jewish roots? Is it really? No, this is not true, one cannot judge the origin of a surname by one ending. sound Jewish surnames coincides with Russian endings just by pure chance.
It is always necessary to research the surname itself. The ending "ov", for some reason, does not cause us doubts. We believe that surnames ending in "-ov" are definitely Russian. But there are exceptions. For example, we recently prepared a beautiful family diploma for a wonderful family named Maksyutov.
The surname Maksyutov has the ending "ov", common among Russian surnames. But, if you explore the surname deeper, it turns out that the surname Maksyutov is formed from the Tatar male name“Maqsoud”, which in Arabic means “desire, premeditated intention, aspiration, goal”, “long-awaited, desired”. The name Maksud had several dialect variants: Maksut, Mahsud, Mahsut, Maksut. This name is still widespread among the Tatars and Bashkirs to this day.
“The surname Maksyutov is an old princely surname Tatar origin. ABOUT ancient origin surnames Maksyutov say historical sources. The surname was first documented in the 16th century: Maksutovs (Maksutovs, obsolete Maksutovs, Tat. Maksutovlar) - the Volga-Bulgarian princely-Murzin family, comes from the Kasimov prince Maksut (1554), in the genealogical legend, Prince Maksut was called a lancer and a descendant of the prince Kashima." Now there is almost no doubt about the origin of the surname.
How to find out if a surname starts with -in Jewish origin Or is it a native Russian surname? Always analyze the word that underlies your last name.
Here are examples of Jewish surnames ending in “-in” or “-ov”: Edmin (derived from the name of the German city of Emden), Kotin (derived from the Hebrew קטן- in the Ashkenazi pronunciation “kotn”, meaning “small”), Eventov (derived from Hebrew "even tov" - " gem”), Khazin (derived from the Hebrew “khazan”, in the Ashkenazi pronunciation “khazn”, meaning “a person leading worship in the synagogue”), Superfin (translated as “very beautiful”) and many others.
The ending "-in" is just an ending by which one cannot judge the nationality of a surname. You always need to research the surname, analyze the word that underlies it and try to search in various books and archival documents for the first mention of your surname. Only when all the information is collected, you will be able to establish with certainty the origin of your surname and find answers to your questions.
SURNAMES ENDING IN SKIY/-SKAYA, -TSKIY/-TSKAYA
Many Russians have a firm and unfounded conviction that surnames in -sky are necessarily Polish. From history textbooks, the names of several Polish magnates are known, formed from the names of their possessions: Pototsky and Zapototsky, Zablotsky, Krasinsky. But from the same textbooks, the names of many Russians with the same suffixes are known: Konstantin Grigoryevich Zabolotsky, roundabout of Tsar John III, late 15th - early 16th centuries; clerk Semyon Zaborovsky, early 16th century; boyars Shuisky and Belsky, close associates of Ivan the Terrible. Famous Russian artists Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Makovsky, Kramskoy.
An analysis of modern Russian surnames shows that forms in -sky (-tsky) exist in parallel with variants in -ov (-ev, -in), but there are fewer of them. For example, in Moscow in the 70s of the twentieth century, for 330 people with the surname Krasnov / Krasnova, there were only 30 with the surname Krasnovsky / Krasnovskaya. But enough rare surnames Kuchkov and Kuchkovsky, Makov and Makovsky are represented almost equally.
A significant part of the surnames ending in -sky / -skaya, -tsky / -tskaya are formed from geographical and ethnic names. In the letters of our readers who want to know about the origin of their surnames, the following surnames are mentioned in -sky / -sky.
Brynsky. The author of this letter, Evgeny Sergeevich Brynsky, himself sent the story of his last name. We give only a small piece of the letter, since it is not possible to publish it in its entirety. Bryn - river Kaluga region, flows into the tributary of the Oka Zhizdra. In the old days, large dense Bryn forests stretched along it, in which the Old Believers took refuge. According to the epic about Ilya Muromets, it was in the Bryn forests that the Nightingale the Robber lived. We add that there are several settlements Bryn in the Kaluga and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The surname Brynski / Brynska found in Poland is formed from the name of two settlements Brynsk in different parts country and also, apparently, goes back to the names of the rivers Bryn, Brynica. There is no uniform interpretation of the names of these rivers in science. If the suffix -ets is added to the name of an inhabited place, then such a word denotes a native of this place. In the Crimea in the 60s - 70s of the XX century, the winegrower Maria Bryntseva was well known. Her surname is derived from the word brynets, that is, a native of the city or village of Bryn.
Garbavitsky. This Belarusian surname corresponds to Russian Gorbovitsky (in Belarusian language the letter a is written in place of the unstressed o). The surname is formed from the name of some settlement of Gorbovitsa. In the materials we have, there are only Gorbov, Gorbovo and Gorbovtsy. All these names come from the designations of the terrain: humpback - hillock, sloping hill.
Dubovskaya. The surname is formed from the name of one of the numerous settlements: Dubovka, Dubovo, Dubovoe, Dubovskaya, Dubovsky, Dubovskoye, Dubovtsy, located in all parts of the country. To find out from which one, it is possible only according to the information preserved in the family, where the ancestors who received this surname lived, or where they came from to their place of further residence. Emphasis in the surname on "o": Dubovsky / Dubovskaya.
Steblivsky. The Ukrainian surname, corresponding to the Russian one, is Steblevsky; formed from the names of settlements Steblivka in the Transcarpathian region or Steblev-Cherkasy. In Ukrainian orthography, i is written in place of the second e.
Tersky. The surname comes from the name of the Terek River and indicates that someone from distant ancestors this person lived there. There were the Terek region and the Terek Cossacks. So the bearers of the surname Tersky may also be descendants of the Cossacks.
Uryansky. The surname, apparently, is formed from the name of the settlement Urya. In our materials, such a name is recorded in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Perhaps there are similar names in other places, since the name of the settlement is associated with the name of the river and with the designation ethnic group ur, as well as with the name of the medieval Turkic people Uryanka. Similar names could be found in different places, since medieval peoples led a nomadic lifestyle and assigned the name of their ethnic group to those places where they lingered for a long time.
Chiglinsky. The surname comes from the name of the settlement Chigla Voronezh region, which, apparently, is associated with the designation of the union of medieval Turkic tribes Chigili.
Shabansky. The surname is formed from the names of the settlements Shabanovo, Shabanovskoye, Shabanskoye, located in different parts of the country. These names come from the Turkic name Shaban of Arabic origin. IN Arabic shaban is the name of the eighth month lunar calendar. The name Shaban is also attested in Russian peasant families in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. In parallel with this, the spelling variant Shiban was noted in the Russian language - obviously, by analogy with the Russian shibat, zashibat. In the records of 1570-1578, Prince Ivan Andreevich Shiban Dolgoruky is mentioned; in 1584, the stirrup grooms of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich Osip Shiban and Danilo Shikhman Ermolaevich Kasatkins. The servant of Prince Kurbsky was called Vasily Shibanov - he was executed by Ivan the Terrible in 1564.
In addition, the name of the ethnic group is known Siberian Tatars Shibans and generic name Crimean Tatars shiban murzas. In the Perm region there is a settlement of Shibanovo, and in the Ivanovo region - Shibanikha.
So closely related different types proper names: personal names, geographical and ethnic names, as well as surnames.
Where did such surnames as Yushchenko, Khmelnitsky, Gavrilyuk and Shevchenko come from? What do Tyagnibok and Zhuiboroda have in common?
This unique "-enko"
Surnames ending in the suffix "-enko" are considered the most typical for Ukrainians, and not because they make up the largest group, but because they practically do not occur among other Slavic peoples. The fact that such surnames became widespread in Russia is explained by the fact that the Ukrainians, after joining the Muscovite state in 1654, constituted the second largest ethnic group after the Russians.
It should be noted that Ukrainian surnames came into use earlier than Russian ones. The very first mention of a surname with the suffix "-enko" dates back to the 16th century. Their localization was typical for Podolia, a little less often for the Kiev region, Zhytomyr region and Galicia. Later, they began to actively spread to Eastern Ukraine.
Researcher Stepan Bevzenko, who studied the register of the Kyiv regiment of the middle of the 17th century, notes that surnames ending in "-enko" accounted for approximately 60% of the entire list of the regiment's family names. The suffix "-enko" is a diminutive, emphasizing the connection with the father, which literally meant "small", "young man", "son". For example, Petrenko is the son of Peter or Yushchenko is the son of Yusk.
Later, the ancient suffix lost its direct meaning and began to be used as a family component. In particular, it became an addition not only for patronymics, but also for nicknames and professions - Zubchenko, Melnichenko.
Polish influence
For a long time, most of today's Ukraine was part of the Commonwealth, which left its mark on the process of forming surnames. Surnames in the form of adjectives ending in "-sky" and "-tsky" were especially popular. Toponyms - the names of territories, settlements, water bodies - were mainly their basis.
Initially, surnames with similar endings were worn exclusively by the Polish aristocracy, as a designation of the rights to own a particular territory - Potocki, Zamoyski. Later, such suffixes also spread to Ukrainian surnames, adding to the names and nicknames - Artemovsky, Khmelnitsky.
Historian Valentin Bendyug notes that from the beginning of the 18th century, “noble families” began to be assigned to those who had an education, first of all, this concerned priests. Thus, according to the researcher's calculations, over 70% of the clergy of the Volyn diocese bore surnames with the suffixes "-tsky" and "-sky".
The appearance in Western Ukraine of surnames with endings in “-uk”, “-chuk”, “-yuk”, “-ak” also occurred during the period of the Commonwealth. Baptismal names became the basis for such surnames, but later any others. This helped to solve the problem of identification - the isolation of a particular person from society and the separation of a Ukrainian from a gentry. This is how Gavrilyuk, Ivanyuk, Zakharchuk, Kondratyuk appeared, although over time these suffixes became more widely used - Popelnyuk, Kostelnyuk.
Eastern trail
Linguists have established that there are at least 4,000 Turkic words in the Ukrainian language. This is due to the active resettlement of some Turkic and other eastern peoples in the Black Sea and Dnieper region in connection with the increased Islamization of the Caucasus and Central Asian regions.
All this directly affected the formation of Ukrainian surnames. In particular, the Russian ethnologist L. G. Lopatinsky argued that the family ending “-ko”, common in Ukraine, comes from the Adyghe “kyo” (“kue”), denoting “descendant” or “son”.
For example, the frequently encountered surname Shevchenko, according to the researcher, goes back to the word "sheudzhen", which the Circassians called Christian priests. The descendants of the “sheudzhen” who moved to the Ukrainian lands began to add the ending “-ko” - this is how they turned into Shevchenko.
It is curious that surnames ending in “-ko” are still found among some Caucasian peoples and Tatars, and many of them are very similar to Ukrainian ones: Gerko, Zanko, Kushko, Khatko.
Lopatinsky also attributes Ukrainian surnames ending in "-uk" and "-yuk" to Turkic roots. So, as evidence, he cites the names of the Tatar khans - Kuchuk, Tayuk, Payuk. The researcher of Ukrainian onomastics G. A. Borisenko supplements the list with Ukrainian surnames with a wide variety of endings, which, in his opinion, are of Adyghe origin - Babiy, Bogma, Zigura, Kekukh, Legeza, Prykhno, Shakhray.
And, for example, the surname Dzhigurda - an example of the Ukrainian-Circassian anthroponymic correspondence - consists of two words: Dzhikur - the name of the Zikh governor of Georgia and David - the Georgian king. In other words, Dzhigurda is Dzhikur under David.
Cossack nicknames
The environment of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks contributed to the formation of a large number of the most diverse nicknames, behind which serfs and representatives of other classes, who had escaped from dependence, hid their origin for security reasons.
“According to the rules of the Sich, the newcomers had to leave their names behind the outer walls and enter the Cossack world with the name that would best describe them,” writes researcher V. Sorokopud.
Many of the bright and colorful nicknames, consisting of two parts - a verb in the imperative mood and a noun, subsequently turned into surnames without any suffixes: Zaderykhvist, Zhuiboroda, Lupybatko, Nezdiiminoga.
Some of the surnames can be found even now - Tyagnibok, Sorokopud, Vernigora, Krivonos. A number of modern surnames went from one-component Cossack nicknames - Bulava, Gorobets, Bereza.
ethnic diversity
The diversity of Ukrainian surnames is the result of the influence of those states and peoples, under whose influence Ukraine has been for centuries. It is interesting that for a long time Ukrainian surnames were the product of free word creation and could change several times. Only in late XVIII centuries, in connection with the decree of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, all surnames acquired a legal status, including in the territories of Ukraine, which were part of Austria-Hungary.
Professor Pavel Chuchka points out that one should distinguish between a “Ukrainian surname” and a surname belonging to a Ukrainian. For example, the surname Schwartz, which is still found in Ukraine, has German roots, but its derivative Shvartsyuk (son of Schwartz) is already typically Ukrainian.
Due to foreign influence, Ukrainian surnames often acquire a very specific sound. So, for example, the surname Yovban, according to Chuchka, has always been prestigious, since it comes from the name of St. Job, which is pronounced Yovb in Hungarian. But the researcher sees the surname Penzenik in the Polish word “penzit”, which translates as to scare.
Each person is special in their own way. Some have an unusual appearance, others - beautiful voice, and some interesting last name. The surname is part of a person's life. She can be admired by others, but at the same time be an occasion for ridicule. It is very easy to determine the roots by the surname, it is enough to hear the ending. In the past, people chose their surname according to their profession, so most surnames are consonant with the types of work.
Each nation has the characteristics of its own culture, as well as a difference in the suffixes of the surname. A few examples of different nationalities:
- Russians have the endings -ev, -ov. Popular types: Smirnov, Ivanov.
- Ukrainian ones end in -ko, -uk, -yuk. Popular: Shevchenko, Nazarchuk, Serdyuk.
- Belarusians differ in the ending -ov, -ko, -ich. Examples: Rabkov, Kuzmich, Vladyko.
- Moldovans use the ending -u, -an. For example, Rotaru, Marian.
You can list nationalities for a long time, but each will have its own special approach. Slavic surnames may have the same ending, but will sound completely different.
Ukrainian Cossacks
The Cossacks played a huge role in the way of life of the Ukrainian people. It was in the 15th century that the emergence of the Cossacks led to the strengthening of the national spirit.
Most of the surnames found their origin precisely from the Cossack times. Men's options acquired big success, since the Cossacks meant only the presence of men. Women's options did not gain the popularity it deserved.
There was the Don Cossacks, where the nobles were present. Surname options:
In addition to Ukrainian surnames, there were many other Slavic variants in the Don Cossacks.
Dictionary of Ukrainian surnames
The Ukrainian language is famous for its pleasant sound, as well as unusualness. It is closely related to Russian and Polish, so some words are easy to remember.
Each one needs to be considered:
Surnames are completely different. The list is filled with some fun options. For Ukrainian language this is a common thing. Except funny options, there are popular female surnames such as:
- Timoshenko.
- Tkachenko.
- Avramenko.
- Kornienko.
The country is famous for its Cossack traditions, as well as the beauty of Ukrainian women. Some of the surnames have a patronymic root:
- Grigorenko.
- Panasenko.
- Romanchenko.
Khokhlyatsky language can be spread in any field. It sounds nice and is unusual to use. If a person wants to change his surname to Ukrainian, then this list will help you find out approximate options.
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